I’m so excited to be your new SBA President for the 2017-2018 term. I’d like to introduce myself to everyone and let you know a little about my goals for the coming year. My name is Steven Glendon. I grew up in a small town north of the Outer Banks in North Carolina and went to Wake Forest University for undergrad. While at Wake Forest, I met my wife, Joyce Fain; after we left Wake Forest, we spent two years in Richmond, Virginia, during which time I was a paralegal for McGuireWoods. I got was grateful to gain some experience working on product liability cases and my time at McGuireWoods solidified my decision to pursue a law degree. UVa has been a wonderful fit for my family and I am honored to serve the student body as SBA President.

I’m humbled by all the support I received during the election and I’m looking forward to working with my other SBA members to best represent the interests of the student body. I see my role as SBA President as primarily a position of advocacy. As such, I will work hard to hear your voice and express your interests to the administration, advocating for changes that will best serve our fellow students.

My tenure as SBA President will begin with a number of meetings with various Deans on Grounds, and I would like to foster relationships with the administration that will allow me to promote the needs of the student body. I will work hard to serve as your advocate, and I hope each of you will feel as though I represent your needs to the best of my ability. I will be available to hear your voice whenever you need; whether I am in the SBA office, having lunch in ScoCo, or walking the halls, I hope that you feel free to speak with me and know that your concerns are my concerns.

While being available to the student body is my top priority, I also want to serve as a bridge to other graduate schools across Grounds in order to deepen our relationships outside of the Law School.

I believe there is a lot of room for expanding our existing relationships with Darden and the Medical School as we move forward. I plan on working closely with my counterparts in these schools in order to foster a deeper relationship and to organize more interactions between our student bodies. The annual Darden and Med School mixers have historically been very successful events, and I would like to see our socialization with both of these graduate schools become a more frequent occurrence. As President of the SBA I also hold a representative position on the newly organized Pan-Grad Council, which is an organization comprised of the presidents of all of the graduate schools on grounds. I believe that I can take advantage this position to not only increase our interaction with Darden and the Med School, but also many of the other graduate programs on Grounds as well.

One sentiment I particularly appreciated about outgoing president A.J.’s platform was his characterization of the SBA as “Your SBA.” As your President, I am beholden to the student body and hold myself accountable for the success of the student experience. I would like your help in elevating your student experience, and my hope is that you, as students, will feel comfortable reaching out to the SBA so we may do what we can to make your student experience the best it can be. It is our job to work towards achieving goals set for us by the student body, and I believe we can do it, with your contribution.

To A.J., Sami, Will, and Laura, thank you for all of the great work you have done for the student body this past year. I look forward to continuing this success into the coming year with my new colleagues Laura, Frances, and Toccara. To the faculty and administration, I am excited to work with you, and I know it’ll be an amazing year! Wahoowa!